Available fireplace systems generally include one of a limited variety of mechanisms for distributing heat produced by operation of the firebox. These mechanisms most often consist of fan or blower-driven forced convection systems for exchanging air around a firebox, such as below and around the rear of a firebox. Such active, forced convection systems require integration of an electrical power source and fan or blower controls, adding to the cost and complexity of the fireplace system.
Other fireplace systems include passive heat dispersal systems that produce heat from the top of the firebox and transfer it to the external environment via vents located near the viewing area of the fireplace or elsewhere in a building structure defining a cavity above the fireplace. Some passive systems simply accumulate heat in a cavity above the fireplace, relying on cavity vents to release heat to the external environment. In some installations of fireplace systems with passive thermal transfer to the cavity above the fireplace, a vent-mounted fan may be used to reduce heat accumulation in the cavity. Some passive systems may draw air from around the firebox, such as from spaces behind and below the firebox that may communicate with an inlet beneath the fireplace opening. However, most passively cooled fireplace systems do not provide controlled convection systems and/or convective pathways suitable to provide consistently controlled fireplace system and cavity temperatures.
Thus, existing fireplace systems generally involve either electromechanical forced convection systems to distribute heat and maintain the fireplace system operating temperature, or they rely on passive cooling systems that can produce undesirable, substantially elevated temperatures in an enclosed cavity above the fireplace. Moreover, existing fireplace systems with active, forced convection heat distribution systems also typically include intakes and/or outlet vents located adjacent to or within the viewing area around the fireplace, and many existing passively cooled systems likewise include an intake and/or an outlet vent in the viewing area. These intake and outlet vents impinge on the aesthetic quality of the fireplace viewing area, cluttering it with visible functional components of the fireplace system that detract from a clean, streamlined fireplace appearance. Thus, fireplace systems with more efficient, low complexity, and aesthetically discrete systems for distributing heat from a firebox are desirable.